Make Sure You Check EVERYTHING During Your Service!

Soopitup

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Equipment
BX23S
Oct 25, 2018
369
164
43
New England
Just a reminder that cursory inspections aren't so cursory.
Did my 100 hour service yesterday. I was going to just grease everything and go to work, my OCD told me to waste time and check the whole tractor over. Good thing I did!

-Battery was loose
-Battery positive terminal was loose
-Coolant overflow bottle was low
-Radiator was low

-One of the backhoe manifold connections was leaking (I'd noticed residue but originally though it was from the grease on the main pivot). I was able to tighten 30* - 40* with just a stubby wrench.

-While cleaning out grease around one of the grease fittings I found it so loose it wiggled just touching it with the screwdriver. So I went around checking all the fittings (no torque wrench, just choked up on a 1/4 ratchet). 1/3 to 1/2 of the fittings were loose.

-My front axle fluid was low. The interesting thing with that is I changed it last fall when I did my 50 hr service. It took less than what Kubota said it would, so I made sure to check it multiple times, including after running the tractor for several hours. It was always good. It apparently takes a LONG time to meander through all the gears/baffles/whatever in the front axle (SUDT, so relatively thin fluid). That explains why they seem to be so low from the factory, I guess it isn't necessarily laziness on their part.

-My brake pedal travel is significantly more than spec. I'm not sure if this is a problem though. It's been that way since day one, and I've had zero braking problems. I'm going to post a separate thread on that one. *Service brake, not parking brake*

Also, the battery issues may have been somewhat my fault. I installed my Land Pride third function kit last fall and had to attach a ring terminal to the positive terminal. There was no good way to attach, so I ended up sticking it between the 2 "ends" of the terminal. This opened up the ring that goes over the post slightly. I made sure it was tight (and the battery hold down was tight), must have vibrated loose.
I ended up changing how the ring terminal attaches. It works for now but I'm still not happy with it. Honestly a little annoying considering it's a Kubota (Land Pride) kit made specifically for my tractor. They could have done a better job with the connection.
*I'll update my third function post at some point to reflect this*

I happened to notice the hours at just the right time so I snapped that picture.
 

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Bmyers

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Grand L3560 with LA805 loader, EA 55" Wicked Grapple, SBX72 BB, LP 1272 mower
May 27, 2019
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IF you have a loader, you want to check those bolts and while you have the torque wrench out, check your tires.
 

Soopitup

Active member

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BX23S
Oct 25, 2018
369
164
43
New England
IF you have a loader, you want to check those bolts and while you have the torque wrench out, check your tires.
Yes :)
I actually just swapped my wheels/tires last weekend(ish).
The rears are a PITA, I had to go around 6-7 times to get the torque to settle.

Did you Check your front axle fluid level?
Yes! Thanks for reminding me.
I did check it (I checked everything), I forgot to mention that. I had a lot going on yesterday.... :p
I'll add that to the first post.
 
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lugbolt

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ZG127S-54
Oct 15, 2015
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did a service on another piece of equipment for a customer last week. I forgot ONE grease fitting. I actually ran out of grease and got side tracked when I went to refill the grease gun, and failed to hit the one fitting. Customer goes into orbit after he gets it home and calls me saying I didn't service it, wants to know why I charged him but didn't do the work. Of course that's the way it is with some people. You make one small mistake and they automatically assume that you're taking advantage of them. The nature of this business. So I get to "eat" a second service, and this time--while he watches me do it (again).

Yeah, don't forget things...

I (and we) try for perfection but it doesn't always happen. We are not Jesus but customers expect us to walk on water and magically heal things with the snap of a finger. One of many reasons I'm about done with working on people's stuff.
 

lynnmor

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B2601-1
May 3, 2021
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Red Lion
I ended up changing how the ring terminal attaches. It works for now but I'm still not happy with it. Honestly a little annoying considering it's a Kubota (Land Pride) kit made specifically for my tractor. They could have done a better job with the connection.
Put the ring terminal on that extra long bolt and add a second nut.
 
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Soopitup

Active member

Equipment
BX23S
Oct 25, 2018
369
164
43
New England
did a service on another piece of equipment for a customer last week. I forgot ONE grease fitting. I actually ran out of grease and got side tracked when I went to refill the grease gun, and failed to hit the one fitting. Customer goes into orbit after he gets it home and calls me saying I didn't service it, wants to know why I charged him but didn't do the work. Of course that's the way it is with some people. You make one small mistake and they automatically assume that you're taking advantage of them. The nature of this business. So I get to "eat" a second service, and this time--while he watches me do it (again).

Yeah, don't forget things...

I (and we) try for perfection but it doesn't always happen. We are not Jesus but customers expect us to walk on water and magically heal things with the snap of a finger. One of many reasons I'm about done with working on people's stuff.
Yup! It can be even more frustrating than that.

Years ago replacing a frame on a Tacoma under recall I recommended replacing the customers struts because they were leaking, amongst other things.
The customer wanted to see everything; I took him out and showed it all to him, explained in detail.
He thanked me, shook my hand, and went right to the service manager and told him I was lying and had poured oil onto his shocks because "they don't leak oil".

Of course the flip side is all the unscrupulous people out there.
I've replaced brakes that didn't need to be replaced that another tech had recommended and the customer came back when the tech wasn't there so it's dumped in my lap.
Then I'm either in the position of making a stink and pissing off the writers, service manager, and (some) other techs, which leads to less work being sent my way.
Or unnecessarily replacing the brakes.

I've gotten crap for telling customers with (relatively) high mileage manual transmission cars they didn't need brakes done yet.
I've also gotten crap for "underselling" my time for upstream (top) O2 sensors on a FWD. It's a 10 minute job that has the potential to be a small disaster if the sensor is seized. So I quote an hour and half to cover my ass (customers HATE when you add more money on the original quote). Then I'm the problem to the writer because I didn't quote 2.5 - 3 hours for the job.

I could write pages of stories like this. It's some of the reason I left customer repair work.

Put the ring terminal on that extra long bolt and add a second nut.
Lots of ways to skin the cat. Personally I'd prefer a little more surface area for the terminal to contact.
I also try not to permanently mod anything while it's under warranty.
 
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Soopitup

Active member

Equipment
BX23S
Oct 25, 2018
369
164
43
New England
This was the last thing.
As long as I've had my tractor the throttle cable has been very stiff. I figured the cable was tight in it's sheath and tried spraying lube in both ends to no avail.
While I was checking the battery I took a look at the underside of the throttle lever and found significant rust on the pivot, probably from sitting outside at the dealer. Sprayed it with dry silicone and it's much smoother.
I need to tear it apart and clean the rust, but that's a project for another day.
At least I know what's causing it now.
 

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fried1765

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Kubota L48 TLB, Ford 1920 FEL, Ford 8N, SCAG Liberty Z, Gravely Pro.
Nov 14, 2019
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Eastham, Ma
This was the last thing.
As long as I've had my tractor the throttle cable has been very stiff. I figured the cable was tight in it's sheath and tried spraying lube in both ends to no avail.
While I was checking the battery I took a look at the underside of the throttle lever and found significant rust on the pivot, probably from sitting outside at the dealer. Sprayed it with dry silicone and it's much smoother.
I need to tear it apart and clean the rust, but that's a project for another day.
At least I know what's causing it now.
Get a spray can of LPS-3, spray it on, and move the linkage back and forth.
Repeat this several times.
You will not need to disassemble.

LPS-3 is thin enough to spray into the linkage, but over time it will dry to a waxy like (more viscous) state, and provide longer lasting lubrication, than other spray lubricants.